I resent the fact that Oakland fans seem to be held to a higher standard than fans in other cities. Other teams have had low attendance when the team played poorly and ownership does not insult them by saying that they can be replaced. Plus new ballparks in other towns have increased attendance and increased payroll, thereby leading to better teams, at least for a while. Also, few teams play in a 2-team market such as the Bay Area, where the competition with the Giants and many other types of entertainment events is huge.

Ballpark access is key, and getting more important with increases in gas prices. Although i recognize the reason the A’s want SJ, it simply does not make sense from a geographical standpoint since it is tucked in the southern portion of the region. Oakland is right in the middle, plus it has BART. Yet this point is consistently down-played. I live in Oakland and originally tried to accept the move to SJ, but the poor access made me realize that I would have very little ability to go to nearly as many games as I have over the years in Oakland.

There are not enough of them to consistently fill up a 50 year old multi-purpose stadium in a shitty part of town. But that’s true anywhere (SF too). There would likely be plenty enough to fill up a new stadium in a nice part of town.

And Lew and Billy need to quit knocking the o.co — we all know that it’s old and that Mt Davis ruined it and that sharing the field with the Raiders is a real drag and that there’s much that needs improvement, but the grounds crew does an amazing job with the field and we all know how the crowd can turn the place into something pretty special. Being at Game 4 with my 2 adult kids, who have been coming with me to A’s games since they were babies, was really something.

We do, however, need a new ballpark, and it really needs to be decided soon, but in the meantime, the strategy of disrespecting the fans and focusing on leaving Oakland has got to go.

Billy clearly didn’t build this team for this year but was building for a future in SJ, where they would hopefully have the money to be able to sign the best of these young guys when or before they reach free agency. But this year’s surprise performance did stir up a lot of emotion for the team. At least let’s make the last few years at the old Coliseum fun, winning years.

If the decision is to move to SJ, keep the positive energy going by keeping a winning team on the field in the meantime and adopting a posture that encourages East Bay fans to both keep coming to the o.co and eventually to SJ. As an example, work to set up special transportation options for East Bay/Valley fans to get to SJ.

I agree with your on-field assessment, ML, but I would add that the catcher position needs to be looked at critically since neither Norris or Kottaris seem up to the task. Both are generally weak offensively, although Kottaris has better power numbers. Neither has great defense, although with Norris it may simply be that he needs more experience given his young age.